POTTER (יָצַר, H3670, to form, frame, make, fashioner; κεραμεύς, G3038, potter). The product of the “fashioner,” the potter, is the most significant artifact in the Near E for archeological purposes. Pottery is a synthetic stone. At Jericho, Wadi Fallah on Mt. Carmel, Buddha near Petra, and Byblos in Syria, a well-developed industry in stone vessels has been found dating back to the period prior to 6500 b.c.
1. Historical survey. Because of the small amount of prehistoric excavation carried out at the present time, there is no common consecutive pattern of the stone age shifting into the beginning of the pottery period. Sometime at the end of the seventh, or beginning of the sixth millennium, the art of making pottery and baked clay figurines was introduced to Syria and Palestine. This ability seems to have come from the Anatolian Plateau when groups of people brought in the new ceramic culture.
Regional peculiarities are distinguishable in the pottery from the sixth and fifth millennia. Variations in pottery may be observed such as forms, texture of the ware, and decorative technique including both burnishing and painting. Once the art of making pottery was discovered, artisans quickly developed great skill in all phases of ceramic production. There was a great demand for pottery as it was much superior to the baskets, which could not hold liquid and were easy prey to rodents. It was much cheaper than leather, which required an involved process in preparation.
By the time of Abraham, the Palestinians had not only the stone and clay jar but also expensive copper ones and the still more expensive bronze artifacts with which to cope with life. Man’s tools, weapons, ornaments, and figurines could then be made out of a wide choice of materials. Pottery, however, because of its cheapness and versatility, remained basic in industry.
By the time of Joseph, Pal. was producing the finest pottery ever manufactured in that land. The strong outside influence upon this making of pottery ware was the world unrest. This brought from Mesopotamia by way of Syria the best craftsmen into the Near E. All through history Palestinian ceramics were also influenced to a greater or lesser degree by Egypt. The poorest period of Palestinian ceramics was in the days of the Judges. The cent. preceding Joshua’s invasion saw Mycenean and esp. Cypriot waves of influence entering Pal. from the W. The last of these western ceramic influences was the Philistine, which came in forcefully shortly after Joshua’s time. From then on Palestinian pottery was essentially local until the intertestamental period. At that time Gr. importations modified some Palestinian forms. By NT times imported ware was also coming from Italy.
2. Pottery clays. Clay is a substance from the earth that the chemist describes as a hydrated silicate of alumina mixed with a variety of impurities in varying proportions. Sometimes the essential clay factor is less than fifty per cent of the earth material used by the potter. If the clay is too pure it is not very plastic. Such a clay is called a primary clay, because it is found at the place of origin. It is produced by chemical action upon rocks from which come the chemical constituency of clay. Kaolin is the best known primary clay. Porcelain, the finest pottery, is produced from it.
The clays used in Pal., however, were for the most part secondary clays, which are transported, or sedimentary, clays. In their travels, such clays have been ground fine by friction and have picked up numerous impurities that influence the finished ware in a variety of ways. The mixing of the clay with water, the fashioning of a piece of pottery, the drying, and firing process are all influenced by the nature of the clay.
After the clay has been cleaned and brought to the proper plasticity, it can then be fashioned into any desired shape. The shaped vessel can be finished off with any selected surface pattern and it will retain that pattern no matter how crude or how delicate. The vessel is then dried, after which it is fired in the kiln. The shape and the markings are then permanent. The chemical change from the heat in the kiln actually turns the clay into a new substance—a synthetic stone. Not only does the plastic clay become rock-like but the vessel will take on a color dictated by the contents of the impurities in the clay. Iron oxide will produce a vessel that has colors from red to brown. Iron hydrates give shades from yellow to cream. Iron carbonate yields shades of gray. Organic matter may produce in the clay shades of black to brown. The color of the fired vessel usually differs from that of the unfired ware.
3. Fashioning pottery. The most common way of making early pottery was by hand. This method usually was abandoned after the invention of the wheel. The former method commonly used coils of clay to form the shape of the vessel, which was then smoothed off into finished form. Most of the pottery used in Bible times was thrown on the wheel. Pottery could also be made in a press mold. In this process the clay is carefully pressed into the mold. After drying it shrinks from the mold. This method was used chiefly in the making of figurines. Beginning in Hel. times it was used also in the making of lamps.
Pottery could be decorated in various ways. The most common technique was that of impressing a pattern on the vessel before it was set out to dry. The patterns were numerous. They might be combings, bands and rows of incisions, chevrons, or beadings. Patterns or pictures could be painted upon the unfired ware with a brush. This type of decoration was most common in the Late Bronze Age, the period preceding Joshua’s conquest. The Philistine ware is the only important painted ware after the conquest.
The better vessels were finished off with a slip, which is an extra pure grade of clay that will produce the finest of colors. It was the consistency of cream and was applied to the vessel before firing. An additional technique, which produced one of the most pleasing patterns, was burnishing. This was at its best in the Middle Bronze and Iron II periods. To burnish a vessel the potter used a hard instrument, such as a piece of bone, and pressed it against the original vessel or the slipped vessel, producing the desired pattern. This method gave a play of light and shadow to the fired vessel.
There are references in the OT that describe the process of pottery manufacturing. 1 Chronicles 4:23 speaks of those who “were the potters” and describes them as dwelling “with the king for his work.” The term used for the potter is יﯴצֵר, H3450, one who “fashions” objects. The work may be with clay, or it may be with other materials such as wood and metal. The worker with clay is the craftsman to whom the word is most frequently applied in the OT (Ps 2:9; Isa 29:16; Jer 18:2-6; Lam 4:2; Zech 11:13).
Reference is also made to the treading of the clay as it is prepared for the fashioning process (Nah 3:14; Isa 41:25). Clay was used for the making of building bricks (Nah 3:14). Anyone can tread brick clay. Isaiah 41:25 specifically speaks of the potter treading out his own clay. This was an art and determined the condition of the vessels when they came out of the kiln. Improper treading of the clay could result in ruined vessels.
Jeremiah 18:1-6 refers to the potter’s house. This was not a reference to the home of the potter, but to his place of manufacture. The house would be near to a field where clay could be weathered and stored and where it could be prepared for fashioning. A kiln for firing the ware and a dump for the broken and discarded vessels would be a part of the potter’s complex. The house would provide cover for the wheel upon which the potter would fashion his vessels in all kinds of weather. This building would also make possible the control of the drying process before the firing. It would be necessary to closely watch the evaporation of the newly fashioned objects since this would also influence the results of the firing process.
Although most of the pottery in Biblical times was shaped on the potter’s wheel, the one specific reference to the wheel in the OT is Jeremiah 18:3. There were two types of wheel. The hand-turned wheel consisted of two discs. The heavier wheel below gave momentum to keep the lighter one above turning, but the vessel was shaped on the upper wheel. The foot-turned wheel consisted of a large wheel which was turned below by the potter’s foot. The small wheel above, connected to the lower wheel by a shaft, was the one on which the prepared clay was thrown and fashioned by the potter. The apocrypha includes a detailed account of the work of the potter at the wheel (Ecclus 38:29-32). As the ball of plastic clay spun around rapidly, the centrifugal force upon the clay was controlled by the deft fingers of the potter so that any desired vessel could be obtained as long as the quality of the clay permitted the completion of the vessel. Jeremiah witnessed that factors can be present that defeat the original intention of the potter. The clay may be the wrong kind. It may have too many impurities. The treading may not have been properly done, or the potter may have failed to place the ball of plastic clay in the exact center of the wheel. If the clay does not yield the desired product, the potter can then reshape the clay into a ball and produce another vessel. It was this process that Jeremiah noted carefully (Jer 18:3, 4).
Clay toys such as animal figures and dolls were fashioned from clay by means of freehand modeling. Jars and bowls could be formed by this method, but archeological evidence indicates that this was the situation only in the early days of the OT. In the Bronze Age and in the time of the prophets of Israel, the bodies of the Astarte figurines were formed by freehand modeling.
A third method by which clay was fashioned in Biblical times was the use of the press mold. A design was prepared in a mold, which was made of metal, wood, or pottery. This design was left on the wet clay when it was pressed into the mold. Reference is made to the power of God in the words, “It is changed like clay under the seal” (Job 38:14). The term “seal” is interpreted as “mold” so that the reference is to the change produced in the clay by the pressure of the mold. The Canaanites in Pal. made plaques featuring the Astarte-type figure by using the press mold. In the time of Jezebel, an idol figure of Astarte was produced by joining the head of the figure, which was made in a press mold, to the body, which had been fashioned by the freehand method. A stamp-seal was used to imprint trademarks on jar handles in the later Israelite period. Sometimes this stamp itself was made of pottery and when pressed on the handle of a cooking pot it fixed its ownership or trademark.
4. Firing pottery. The final product of the potter is dependent upon the firing process in the kiln. As much skill is required here as in throwing the best ware. Profit or loss depended upon the skill of the kilnman in controlling the varied temperatures of the kilns at all times. No reference is found in the OT to the technique involved, but this is not surprising since such trade secrets were not shared. “The Tower of the Ovens” is mentioned (Neh 3:11; 12:38) which may be a reference to the pottery kilns. Since the “Potsherd Gate” (Jer 19:2) was nearby, the activity of the potter seems to be foremost in the area. Ware that was broken, cracked, misshaped, over-fired, or under-fired had to be discarded after being taken out of the kiln. The amount of the discards would be considerable and thus would give the name to the gate. With the introduction of cisterns into Pal., discarded pottery could be ground up, added to plaster, and then applied as waterproofing for the floors and walls of the water storage installations.
5. Ceramic vocabulary. According to Kelso’s study of the ceramic vocabulary used in the OT, some thirty-four Heb. and Aram. words are used for pottery vessels. Ten different terms are used for vessels in what is generally described as the “bowl family.” There are banquet bowls, or kraters, which would be very large. In the earlier history of Israel these bowls were frequently hand burnished and had two handles. Later they were ring burnished and four handles were attached. According to Exodus 24:6-8 the great bowl was used to hold half of the blood of the sacrificed oxen. From this supply Moses then sprinkled the people after reading from the book of the covenant. It was into a similar bowl that Gideon put the water wrung out from the fleece (Judg 6:38). A smaller medium-sized bowl that had no handles was used as the vessel from which the main dish of the meal was served. Considerable care was given to such a vessel so that it could remain ceremonially clean (2 Kings 21:13). A similar bowl was used as a bread bowl into which the flour and leaven were mixed and left to rise (Exod 12:34). Another bowl, smaller than the bread bowl, held burning charcoal and was used to start a fire (Zech 12:6). A still smaller bowl was used to hold salt (2 Kings 2:20). Elisha requested that a new vessel of this type be provided. He then put salt into it and threw the salt into the spring.
Another class of ceramic vessels designated in the OT includes all the cooking pots. The most common of these was the סִיר, H6105. This was a widemouth cooking pot that was broad and shallow. At first this was a vessel without handles. Later two handles were attached to it. It was used both for cooking (2 Kings 4:38-41) and as a wash basin (Ps 60:8). Reference is made to another type of cooking pot that may have been used for deep-fat frying (2 Sam 13:9).
There are references in the OT to many specialized ceramic vessels. One group is composed of storage jars. In this classification is the jar used for the storage of oil. Such a container is described as being in the home of the widow of a prophet (2 Kings 4:2). This jar had a spout that made possible the pouring of oil into any size container, large or small. Another jar had a hole-mouth and was designed for the storage of both dry materials, such as flour, and liquids. Frequently it served as a common water jar. Rebekah used such a jar at the well (Gen 24:14ff.). The LXX trs. the term specifically as a water jar (ὑδρία, G5620). However, in the encounter between Elijah and the widow of Zarephath (1 Kings 17:12ff.) the hole-mouth jar contained flour. The mouth of this jar was wide enough for the owner to lift out a handful of flour easily, yet narrow enough to be covered over by a light flat stone or potsherd.
The Israelites produced and used a common ceramic pitcher that could hold either wine or water. Usually about eight or ten inches high, the earlier Iron Age pitchers generally had a pinched mouth whereas those of the Iron II period had a round mouth. According to Jeremiah 35:5 the Rechabites were offered wine in pitchers of this type. The most artistic and expensive vessel among pitchers was the בַּקְבֻּק, H1318, of Jeremiah’s time. This was “the gurgling vessel.” The narrow neck of the pitcher produced a gurgling sound when the contents were poured out. When Jeremiah wanted to portray Jerusalem he used this type of water decanter as representative of the people. After water was taken from the cistern in a pitcher, it would be served in the better houses from a decanter at the table. The בַּקְבֻּק, H1318, would have the advantage of aerating the water as it came from the vessel. For travelers and soldiers the potters produced a ceramic water canteen or pilgrim flask. This vessel appeared in the Late Bronze Age and continued in use until the middle of the Iron II period. The mouth of this canteen was shaped so as to be easily stoppered and also to make drinking from it quick and easy. It was this type of vessel that David took from the sleeping King Saul (1 Sam 26:11ff.).
Two very common household ceramic objects that appear in the OT are perfume juglets and lamps. Perfumed ointment was kept in a small juglet, which was from three to six inches high. When Elisha sent a prophet to anoint Jehu he gave him this particular type of ceramic vessel (2 Kings 9:1ff.). The OT lamp (נֵר֒, H5944) was literally “the light-giving” vessel. When the potter fashioned it, he made a small bowl, and then, while the clay was still soft, he pinched in the rim at some spot so that a wick could be placed in it. It was possible to produce seven such spouts and thus make a seven-branched lamp. Such lamps have been found by the archeologists in both Canaanite and Israelite houses. The term “candlestick” is not a good tr. for the luminary used in the Tabernacle and the Temple, for the “candles” were actually small lamps. The lamp was an essential for life (Jer 25:10). In the intertestamental period the Gr. lamp was introduced and the open-faced lamp of the OT practically disappeared.
The NT vocabulary on pottery is the same as that found in both classical and Hel. Gr. The water jar (ὑδρία, G5620, John 2:6, 7; 4:28) could be a large storage-type jar from which the household could draw, or it could be the smaller container that could be carried from the well or cistern to the house. The cup (ποτήριον, G4539) is referred to both literally and fig. in the NT. It was really a small bowl, something similar to the modern soup bowl. The oil juglet in the parable of the wise and foolish virgins (Matt 25:1-13) was a container not unlike the OT perfume juglet in size, but more spherical in shape. The lamp (λαμπάς, G3286) is referred to in the NT (Matt 25:1-8; Rev 4:5; 8:10). There was a great variety in lamp styles in the NT period. In Hel. times the best ware was produced in Greece and exported widely. In the Rom. period the Italian potteries offered the best ceramic products. Both the Gr. and the Rom. ceramic materials were imitated in Egypt and Phoenicia, which increased the circulation of the products.
These ceramic vessels of the OT and the NT give the major clues to an insight into the culture of the people that used them. Other factors aiding in the interpretation of a culture are to be found in weapons, tools, jewelry, and other items made of such substances as metal, wood, bone, and glass. These cultures, of course, must always be interpreted in terms of the building and houses in which the items are found.
6. Ceramic chronology. Because of the cheapness of pottery, all archeological sites in Pal. have tens of thousands of fragments of pottery. From the characteristic forms of vessels, the ware, and the decoration, archeologists have been able to make out a time table. This chronology is based on the length of time that the various forms remained in circulation.
The following chart was prepared by Paul W. Lapp:
Bibliography R. Amiran, Ancient Pottery of the Holy Land (1970), 1-306; J. L. Kelso, Ceramic Vocabulary of the Old Testament (1948), 1-48; P. W. Lapp, “Palestine in the Early Bronze Age,” Near Eastern Archaeology in the Twentieth Century, J. Sanders, ed. (1970), 101-131.